


The hands still reaching out to me

by orphan_account



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, birthday fic, look mom i didnt write angst, the rest of the oddballs and kuro and nazuna and anzu are there too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 07:30:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12552336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Shu is asked to come to the handicrafts clubroom after class, what happens next will warm his heart!





	The hands still reaching out to me

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Shu!
> 
> Unbeta'd because ain't nobody got time for that on Shu's birthday.

The hallway was empty, as expected during after-school hours. Shu walked towards the handicrafts clubroom with suspicion. He was expecting there to be some kind of trick to this sudden “meeting” Kiryu had proposed they have. Besides, it was the day they had handicrafts club activities anyway – why had Kiryu asked him to come to the clubroom after classes end when he for sure knew Shu would be there anyway. He had even made the excuse that he needed help with the sewing patterns for Akatsuki’s new outfits, but Shu knew this to be false for never before had Kiryu needed any help with his projects of this sort.  
  
When he got closer to the door of the clubroom, Shu could see that the door was slightly open and the light was on. Had that foolish Kagehira left the door open again? He never seemed to learn that Shu needed utmost concentration for his work and being interrupted would simply not do. Or maybe Kiryu had already arrived and left the door open since he couldn’t have known Shu wanted it closed at all times. Whatever the reason was, Shu supposed he could just close it after himself. It wasn’t that big of a deal.  
  
Shu could hear voices from inside the room when he got to the door. Maybe it was Kiryu and Kagehira having a conversation? Or perhaps Aoba was there as well and all three of them were talking? No, the commotion he could hear from the room was too loud to come from just three people. Shu opened the door and –  
  
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”  
  
The voices of over a half a dozen people shouting echoed in the room. Shu was surprised, he hadn’t expected anything of this sort even though it was indeed his birthday. And there were so many people too! The rest of the five oddballs, Kagehira, Kiryu, Anzu and even Nito… All the people Shu held dear were gathered around a table and on the table there were a couple of presents and something that distantly resembled a cake. Shu figured it must’ve been Kagehira who prepared the cake, for he was sure no one else could possibly have failed that badly at baking a birthday cake. Nevertheless, he was sort of happy about Kagehira trying his best at baking. Not that he would admit it out loud, of course!  
  
“You all are here… I cannot say I expected this,” Shu managed to say.  
  
“Y’see oshi-san, I worked reeeeally hard to get everyone here!” Mika was smiling brightly. He seemed to have some whipped cream in his hair. From the cake, no doubt about it.  
  
Rei’s calm voice cut Mika off before he could continue his enthusiastic ramble:  
  
“Kagehira-kun kindly invited all of us oddballs here to celebrate your birthday. We had planned to celebrate you, but had little time to make any plans so we were very grateful that he organized this.”  
  
Rei paused for a moment and Natsume stepped forward, holding an envelope.  
  
“This is our gift for you, Shu-niisan.” Natsume handed the envelope to Shu.  
  
As Shu began to open the envelope, curious about its contents, Rei continued:  
  
“In the envelope, you will find a gift card to your favorite fabric store. We had the common thought that it would be a gift you would find useful and appreciate. Best wishes on your birthday, Shu.”  
  
Shu found that he was unable to speak, he was so overcome with happiness that his mouth just wouldn’t move and form the words the wanted it to. The moment could have turned into an awkward silence if it hadn’t been for Kanata who walked up to Shu and said:  
  
“The "fish" couldn’t come here with me... But they told me to wish you "a happy birthday" on their stead! So happy birthday, Shu… Puka puka~”  
  
Kanata talking about his fish somehow made Shu come back to his senses so that he could speak again.  
  
“Thank you, everyone. For coming, and for the gift card. It will surely be useful.”  
  
Kuro, who had been standing closer to the wall, behind the oddballs, made his way to Shu. He looked a bit lost, and Shu momentarily thought that Kuro didn’t know many of the other guests, so he perhaps felt a little out of place. Despite that, Shu was glad Kagehira had invited Kiryu. They were childhood friends, after all.  
  
“Uh, happy birthday Itsuki. I don’t have a real gift for you but I could make the costumes for Valkyrie’s next live, if you wanted me to. If you’d let me. Just, uh, I dunno, think about it or something? And sorry that I lied to you about needing help with the patterns… Kagehira wanted me to make sure you came to the clubroom right after class so…”  
  
“Thank you, Kiryu. I appreciate the sentiment, I will give your offer some thought. And don’t worry about it, it’s Kagehira’s fault for putting you in a situation where you needed to make up a lie.”  
  
Shu glared at Kagehira to make his point. He, Nito and Anzu were to only ones left ho hadn’t spoken. Kagehira seemed to be just as enthusiastic as before:

“You see, oshi-san, I really wanted you to have a nice birthday! So, I figured you’d be happy if all your friends were there, so I invited ‘em here and asked Tsumu-chan-senpai to let us use the clubroom today! Aaaaand look, I even baked you a cake! …It doesn’t really look like a cake though. But it is a cake, no matter what it looks like, you know!”  
  
Nito was standing next to Kagehira and looked a bit embarrassed. Shu was surprised he had come at all, with the things between them being as they were. But there he was, playing with his hair and muttering to himself:  
  
“Kagehira insisted on not following the recipe even though I told him that the cake would turn out better if he followed it… But I hope it’ll still taste good?” Nito smiled shyly. “Happy birthday…”  
  
Shu would’ve never though that he would ever again hear Nito wishing him a happy birthday. Those times were long gone. But apparently, sometimes the past happiness can return, even if for only a fleeting moment.  
  
“Thank you, Kagehira, Nito. And Kagehira, you have whipped cream in your hair, please do wash that off before it dries. I hope there are not any hairs in the cake.”  
  
Mika looked shameful and fled towards the bathroom to wash his hair. Meanwhile, Shu inspected the cake. He couldn’t see any hairs in it, so maybe he could taste it, just to be polite. Before he could do that, Anzu tapped his lightly on the shoulder.  
  
“Hm? Anzu? What is it?”  
  
“A present, from you? I should open it now? If you insist.”  
  
“A small dress? Huh? You thought Mademoiselle should be dressed for the occasion too so you made a dress for her? That is… Most thoughtful of you. Thank you, Anzu.”  
  
  
*  
  
Long after the small party had come to an end, at night when Shu was lying in bed before falling asleep, he thought:  
  
“Even after all the things that have happened, there are people walking beside me. Perhaps I should… Try to depend on them sometime, just for a bit.”  
  
And with that thought, he drifted off to sleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
